So long story short, I essentially spend the last 1.5 years rotting at home in bed oscillating from mild to heavy depression, though abt 7months of them was intense studies before I burned out. But anyway I went to a college today, a decent one not amazing, just whatever I got, just to get a look. It starts next week. And to find places to live in a different city (though its only about 100kms apart from my home).
And yeah I am kinda scared now idk. I do not really have any meaningful friends or something or a mentor to ask advice, so well I would like to hear your stories! Or any tips? I am kinda introverted, well not kinda quite a bit. But I wont say I am under-confident, I do not have trouble talking to people or something, mostly I just find hard to relate with them. Even today I tried striking some casual convos but seniors have some attitude towards freshers i guess, and freshers were too busy completing their docs maybe.
Purely from the academic side…
Go to class. Don’t take online/remote classes if possible. Don’t skip. If you need extra incentive, calculate how much you are spending per class. Getting your ass out of your dorm/apartment will help motivate you and do more stuff. This will be an unpopular opinion, but I suggest taking the earliest classes you can and stacking them up. It will give you more time to get your work done later.
Sit in the FRONT row. It will help you pay attention. Take notes. Not on a laptop. By hand. Writing will help you remember.
Work hard/play hard. Weekends are yours, but weekdays are for getting shit done. This will help you build good habits for after you are done with school. College is super expensive. Don’t fuck it up.
Don’t take a major that doesn’t have some type of acreditation. Again, this will be unpopular, but ask yourself if you could learn stuff on your own/through experience/as a student-at-large. Accounting: yes. Medicine: yes. MBA: yes. Law: yes. You can’t do those things without college. Art: no. Philosophy: no. Just go DO those things. Take a class if you want to strengthen your skills, but you need to be incredibly driven to succeed.
Accreditation is for if the degree/classes is recognized by other institutions and fulfills certain requirements. Art, philosophy, underwater basket weaving, and some made up major can all be accredited.
I think you are searching for “STEM”
Yes, good point. I used that term incorrectly. And I didn’t intend to disparage any major. If you have the cash, by all means, study what you want and enjoy learning. I have an art degree myself. I just didn’t need the degree to get a job. I could have built a portfolio on my own if I had the motivation.